HK1016734A1 - Disk recording-playback device, disk tray for use in the device, and method of ejecting the tray - Google Patents

Abstract

Provided forwardly of a stacker accommodating trays in a plurality of stages for placing a disk on each tray is a recording-playback unit which is movable upward and downward for recording or reproducing data on or from the disk. A clamp plate covering the recording-playback unit is pivoted to the unit. When one of the trays is to be ejected from the stacker, the recording-playback unit is moved upward or downward to a level where the disk carrying face thereof is displaced from the tray to be ejected, to block the path of movement of the tray to the recording-playback unit with the clamp plate or the recording-playback unit, and the tray is thereafter ejected.

Description

Optical disk recording-reproducing apparatus, optical disk tray for the apparatus, and method of ejecting the optical disk tray

The present invention relates to an optical disc recording-reproducing apparatus for recording data on an optical disc and reproducing data recorded on the optical disc, an optical disc tray used in the apparatus, and an ejecting method of the optical disc tray.

The present applicant has already proposed an optical disc recording-reproducing apparatus as shown in fig. 43 (see JP- ｃA-297904/1996). The previously proposed apparatus has a stacker (stacker)7 in its body 100, the stacker 7 accommodating a plurality of layers of disc trays 4 for placing a disc on each tray. Disposed at the front of the layer-stacking cabinet 7 is a clamper 700 which can move up and down to place the disc trays 4 transferred from the layer-stacking cabinet 7 thereon. A recording-reproducing unit 2 is disposed below the up-and-down moving path of the clamper 700.

As shown in fig. 43, the tray 4 can move into and out of the layer stacking cabinet 7 rightward, i.e., in the loading direction, and leftward, i.e., in the ejecting direction. The disk trays 4 stacked in the layer-stacking cabinet 7 are locked by a locking mechanism (not shown). When loading or ejection is required, the disc tray 4 is released from the layered stacking cabinet 7.

As shown in fig. 44, the disc tray 4 has a large recess 400 and a small recess 410 which is positioned one layer lower than the large recess 400 and is concentric with the large recess, the large recess 400 being for receiving a disc having a diameter of 12cm (hereinafter referred to as "large disc"), and the small recess 410 being for receiving a disc having a diameter of 8cm (hereinafter referred to as "small disc"). One of the large and small optical disks is placed on the disk tray 4. A window 420 is formed on the disc tray 4 as a common opening for the large and small concave portions 400 and 410. A recording or reproducing light beam passes through the window 420. The designated disc tray 4 is loaded such that: the clamper 700 is vertically moved to the layer where the specified tray 4 is located, and then the tray 4 is transferred from the layered stack cabinet 7 to the clamper 700 and the clamper 700 is lowered to the recording-reproducing unit 2 to place the tray 4 in position on the recording-reproducing unit 2.

In the case of the conventional recording-reproducing apparatus, when it is ejected, the designated disc tray 4 must be released from engagement with the layered stacking cabinet 7, and therefore, if the main body 100 of the apparatus is mounted as shown by the chain line in fig. 46, the disc tray 4 is likely to slip out of the layered stacking cabinet 7 and fall onto the unit 2. Then, the tray 4 cannot be ejected, and the optical disk on the tray 4 is likely to be damaged.

Further, even if the falling of the disc holder 4 can be avoided, there is a possibility that the optical disc D falls onto the unit 2 from the inclined disc tray 4. In particular, since the small optical disc has a small contact area with the disc tray 4, the friction force between the small optical disc and the disc tray is small, and the small optical disc is liable to slip out.

The object of the present invention is to prevent a disk tray from falling toward a recording/reproducing unit and to prevent a small optical disk from slipping out of the disk tray when a main body of an apparatus is installed obliquely.

The present invention provides an optical disk recording-reproducing apparatus which mounts, on a base 1 thereof, a layered stacking cabinet 7 and a recording-reproducing unit 2 disposed in a front portion of the layered stacking cabinet 7 for recording data onto or reproducing data from optical disks, the layered stacking cabinet 7 accommodating a plurality of layers of optical disk trays 4 so that an optical disk is placed on each of the optical disk trays 4. The optical disc is held between the unit 2 and a clamping plate 200 located above the unit 2.

Further, a deck-raising unit 6 for raising and lowering the recording-reproducing unit 2 and a raising control means disposed between the deck 1 and the recording-reproducing unit 2 for operating the deck-raising unit 6 to bring the recording-reproducing unit 2 to a desired layer are mounted on the deck 1.

In the following description, the direction in which the disc trays 4 slide from the layered stacking cabinet 7 toward the recording-reproducing unit 2 will be referred to as "forward" or "loading direction", and the direction from the unit 2 toward the layered stacking cabinet 7 will be referred to as "backward". The direction in which the disc trays 4 are conveyed from the layered stacking cabinet 7 to the outside of the recording-reproducing apparatus will be referred to as "ejection direction".

When one of the disc trays 4 is to be ejected from the layered stacking cabinet 7, the lift control means positions the recording-reproducing unit 2 opposite the disc tray 4 to be ejected, and blocks the moving path of the disc tray 4 toward the unit 2 with the clamp plate 200 or the unit 2.

As shown in fig. 13 and 19, a slip-off preventing piece 500 disposed in the front of the large recess portion 400 and overlapping an end portion of the large recess portion 400 and a contact wall 510 disposed in the front of the slip-off preventing piece 500 are provided on the disc holder 4. When a disc is about to slide forward out of the small recess portion 410, the slide-off preventing piece 500 comes into contact with the upper surface of the disc, and the contact wall 510 comes into contact with the outer peripheral edge of the disc, thereby preventing the disc from sliding out of the disc holder 4.

In the case where the main body of the apparatus is obliquely installed on a table, even when the disk tray 4 to be ejected is intended to slide forward, the path of movement of the disk tray 4 toward the recording-reproducing unit 2 is blocked by the chucking plate 200 or the recording-reproducing unit 2. This eliminates the possibility that the disc tray 4 to be ejected may drop toward the unit 2.

Even if the drop of the disc tray 4 toward the unit 2 is prevented, there is a possibility that the small disc placed on the disc tray 4 slips forward. However, even in such a case, the upper surface of the optical disc is restrained by the slip prevention sheet 500 while the outer peripheral edge thereof is in contact with the contact wall. Therefore, the small optical disc can be prevented from slipping off the disc tray 4.

Brief description of the drawingsthe accompanying drawings:

fig. 1 includes several side views showing in outline the course of action of an optical disc recording-reproducing apparatus, in which (a) shows a disc tray in a closed position, (b) shows one of the disc trays in an eject position, and (c) shows a recording-reproducing unit during ascent and descent;

fig. 2 is a perspective view of an optical disc recording-reproducing apparatus;

fig. 3 is a plan view showing the optical disc tray in a closed position and an eject position with respect to the recording-reproducing unit;

fig. 4 is a perspective view of a recording-reproducing unit;

FIG. 5 is a front view showing a positional relationship between a recording-reproducing unit and a chucking plate;

FIG. 6 is a front view of an operating slide;

fig. 7 is a plan view showing a chucking plate above a recording-reproducing unit;

FIG. 8 is a side view showing the left tiered stacking cabinet member as viewed from the interior;

FIG. 9 is a plan view of the base with a ring gear mounted thereon;

FIG. 10 is a side sectional view showing the base as seen from the direction of arrow C in FIG. 9;

fig. 11 is a plan view of a main disc tray and a sub-disc tray stacked above the main disc tray;

fig. 12 is a plan view of a main disc tray;

fig. 13 is an exploded perspective view of a main disc tray and a sub disc tray;

fig. 14 is a sectional view of the sub disc tray taken along line a-a of fig. 13;

FIG. 15 is a perspective view of the latch lever;

fig. 16 includes two plan views showing a positional relationship between the sub disc tray and the main disc tray in the closed state, in which (a) shows a relative position between the lock lever and the cam portion and (b) shows a relative position between the lock lever and the lock block;

fig. 17 includes two plan views showing the main disc tray and the sub disc tray in an engaged state during movement from the closed position to the eject position, in which (a) shows the relative position between the locking lever and the cam portion and (b) shows the relative position between the locking lever and the locking block;

fig. 18 is a side view of a main disc tray and a sub disc tray partially broken;

fig. 19 is a sectional view taken along line B-B in fig. 13 showing a front end portion of the sub disc tray;

FIG. 20 includes two plan views showing the positional relationship between a pawl and an engaging jaw, wherein (a) shows the pawl engaging the jaw and (b) shows the jaw released from the pawl;

FIG. 21 is a rear view of the tiered stacking cabinet;

fig. 22 is a plan view showing a positional relationship between the motor and the gear train for operating the coupling unit;

FIG. 23 is a perspective view of the right side layered stackable cabinet member;

FIG. 24 is a side view of the coupling unit with the layered stacking cabinet partially broken away;

fig. 25 is a perspective view of the coupling unit;

FIG. 26 is a side view of the layered stacking cabinet member of FIG. 23;

FIG. 27 is an enlarged plan view of the slider inserted into a cut-out;

FIG. 28 is a side view showing the fixing bracket seen from the inside, in which the slider is inserted into the elevating member;

FIG. 29 includes two side views of the open-close slide wherein (a) represents a closed position and (b) represents an ejected position;

FIG. 30 includes two enlarged fragmentary views of FIG. 29 wherein (a) shows the locking gear immediately prior to locking and (b) shows the slide assembly after being locked by the gear;

fig. 31 includes two side views of the opening-closing slide and the disc tray, in which (a) shows a closed position and (b) shows an eject position;

fig. 32 is a plan view showing a positional relationship between the sub disc tray and the recording-reproducing unit at the closed position;

FIG. 33 includes two plan views of the drive gear and the sub disc tray, in which (a) shows the closed position and (b) shows a large tooth of the rack inserted into a notch during the sliding movement of the sub disc tray;

fig. 34 is a plan view when the sub disc tray is on the recording-reproducing unit;

fig. 35 is a side view showing the position of the recording-reproducing unit with respect to the optical disc tray when the optical disc tray is ejected;

fig. 36 is a perspective view of the device body;

FIG. 37 is a front view of the lift member in contact with the upper surface of the gear;

FIG. 38 includes two side views showing the lift as viewed from the inside, wherein (a) shows the lift during the lifting process and (b) shows the contact member making contact with a contact member;

FIG. 39 is a side view showing the optical disc tray pushed by hand in the eject position;

fig. 40 includes two plan views of gears on the recording-reproducing unit, in which (a) shows a transmission gear engaged with an operating gear and (b) shows an operating gear engaged with an operating slider;

fig. 41 includes two plan views of the gear on the recording-reproducing unit in the case where the optical disc tray further slips from the state shown in fig. 40, in which (a) shows the transmission gear engaged with the operation gear, (b) shows the operation gear engaged with the operation slider;

fig. 42 is a flowchart of the disc tray eject operation;

fig. 43 is a side view of a conventional optical disc recording-reproducing apparatus;

fig. 44 is a perspective view of a disc tray of the conventional apparatus;

fig. 45 is a side sectional view showing how a small optical disk slides out of a disk tray and falls toward a recording-reproducing unit; and

fig. 46 is a side view of the device body in an inclined position.

Integral structure

An embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail below. The same structures as those of the conventional apparatuses will be denoted by the same reference numerals as those of the conventional apparatuses and will not be described in detail.

FIGS. 1(a), (b) and (c) are side views showing the apparatus of the present invention in general terms. On the side of the apparatus close to the user handling the apparatus, a layer-stacking cabinet 7 is provided, in which layer-stacking cabinet 7a number of disc holders 4 are accommodated, arranged one above the other and each adapted to carry a disc. Each of the disc trays 4 is mounted on a corresponding layer of the layered stacking cabinet 7 and can be moved into and out of the layered stacking cabinet 7. Disposed in front of the layered stacking cabinet 7 is a recording-reproducing unit 2, which recording-reproducing unit 2 can move up and down in a state of being screw-engaged with three screws 61, 61, 61 vertically protruding from the base 1, so as to receive the optical disk transferred by the disk tray 4. Thereby recording data on the optical disc or reproducing data recorded on the optical disc by the unit 2.

When a new optical disk is loaded into the layer-stacking cabinet 7, one of the disk trays 4 is pulled out of the layer-stacking cabinet 7 as shown in fig. 1(b), and the optical disk is placed on the disk tray 4. When an operation button (not shown) is pressed, the disc tray 4 is retracted into the layered stacking cabinet 7 as shown in fig. 1 (a). The disk tray sliding mechanism 3 to be described later performs such a retracting movement.

When a desired optical disk in the layered stack cabinet 7 is used for recording or reproducing data, the unit 2 is moved up or down and corresponds to the optical disk tray 4 carrying the desired optical disk, as shown in fig. 1 (c). The disc is then transferred to the unit 2. As will be described later, the disc tray 4 includes a sub disc tray 41 and a main disc tray 40 (see fig. 13) combined together. The disc is placed only on the sub disc tray 41, and it slides toward the unit 2. When the sub disc tray 41 is set on the unit 2, the optical disc is ready for recording or reproduction.

As will be described later, the optical disc recording-reproducing apparatus of the present invention has, in addition to the recording-reproducing unit 2 and the disc tray slide mechanism 3, a coupling unit 5 which moves up and down in an operational relationship with a deck lifting unit 6 for lifting and lowering the recording-reproducing unit 2 and the disc tray slide mechanism 3, and which couples the disc tray 4 to be slidably moved toward the disc tray slide mechanism 3.

Fig. 3 is a plan view of the optical disc tray 4 in an ejected state, that is, a backward sliding state. The disk tray 4 is slidable between a closed position in which the disk tray 4 is accommodated in the layered stacking cabinet 7 and an eject position in which the disk tray is moved out of the layered stacking cabinet 7. The tray slide mechanism 3 is driven by a motor M1 provided at the side of the apparatus, and the deck lift unit 6 and the coupling unit 5 are driven by motors M2 and M3, respectively, mounted on the base 1. The optical disk is delivered to the recording-reproducing unit 2 by a motor M4. The electric wire 850 drawn from the motor M4 is arranged along the rear side of the unit 2 so as not to interfere with the unit 2 during its ascent or descent.

Fig. 2 is a perspective view of the entire recording-reproducing apparatus. As is well known, the recording-reproducing unit 2 includes a turntable 250 for rotating the optical disc and a pickup 260 for projecting a light beam to the rear surface of the optical disc to record or reproduce data. Although a pressing plate 210 for holding the optical disc in pressure contact with the turntable 250 is provided on the top of the recording-reproducing unit 2, the pressing plate 210 is not shown in fig. 2 for simplicity of description.

The layered stacking cabinet 7 includes a pair of layered stacking cabinet members 70, 70 arranged opposite to each other on the left and right sides of the base 1. Each of the layered stacking cabinet members 70 is provided with guide plates 71 arranged in several layers, which support the disc trays 4 in supporting contact with the upper and lower side surfaces thereof. Six disc trays 4 are accommodated in the layered stacking cabinet 7 of the present embodiment.

Arranged on the outside of the layered stacked cabinet members 70, 70 are respective side panels 10, which constitute the main body 100 of the apparatus. The coupling unit 5 capable of sliding up and down is disposed in a space between the layered stacked cabinet member 70 on the right side as viewed in fig. 2 and the side plate 10.

An opening-closing slide device 30 constituting the disc tray slide mechanism 3 is disposed outside the right side plate 10. The slide device 30 is movable back and forth along the slide grooves 14, 14 formed in the side plate 10 by the motor unit 9 mounted on the side plate 10.

A top plate 11 is provided above the unit 2 for connection to the side plates 10, 10. The upper ends of the three screws 61, 61 are seated and fixed on the top plate 11.

Fig. 4 is a perspective view of the recording-reproducing unit 2, and fig. 5 is a partial side view of the unit. The unit 2 has a lifting bracket 20 which is threadedly engaged with the threaded rods 61, 61. The carriage 20 is made of synthetic resin, and is mounted on a guide bar 63 upwardly protruding from the base 1 so as to move up and down under the guide of the guide bar 63. Each screw 61 carries a gear 62 at its lower end, which is arranged in the recess 13 of the base 1 (see fig. 10).

The bracket 20 shown in fig. 4 is formed with a large opening 27 extending vertically therethrough. A movable support 21 having a pickup 260 and mounted with a turntable 250 is supported at one side thereof by a pivot shaft 28 provided across the opening 27. A sensor SE1 for detecting the level of the recording-reproducing unit 2 is disposed in the vicinity of the driving gear 26 located at one side of the lifting bracket 20.

Disposed to the right of the large opening 27 is a motor M4 and a gear train 24 to transmit power from the motor M4. The operating gear 25 disposed at the downstream end of the gear train 24 includes an upper gear 25b and a lower gear 25c each of which is toothed only on a part of the outer periphery thereof. The upper gear 25b of the operating gear 25 is engaged with a transmission gear 26 disposed at one end of the lifting bracket 20. The driving gear 26 includes an upper gear 26b and a lower gear 26c, and is engaged with the disk tray 4 to be described later. The upper gear 26b has a cutout 26a at its outer periphery.

Referring to fig. 5, the lower gear 25c of the operating gear 25 is engaged with a toothed surface 22a of an operating slide 22 provided on one side of a large opening 27 of the lifting bracket 20 to move the slide 22 forward and backward. Thus, the motor M4 for the unit 2 drives the operating slide 22, and also drives the disk tray 4 toward or away from the unit 2.

The transmission gear 26 and the operating gear 25 provide a geneva movement, so that the gears 26 and 25 mesh with each other only in certain sections, after which they do not mesh with each other. Fig. 40, 41 are plan views (a), (b) respectively showing the state where the operating gear 25 is engaged or disengaged with the transmission gear 26 and with the operating slide 22. As shown in fig. 40(a) and (b), the lower gear 26c of the transmission gear 26 is initially meshed with the upper gear 25b of the operating gear 25, and the lower gear 25c is initially not meshed with the operating slide 22.

The driving gear 26 is rotated clockwise from the present state by the operating gear 25, causing the upper gear 26b to pull the sub disc tray 41 as will be described later. When the disk tray 4 is completely pulled in, as shown in fig. 41(a) and (b), the upper gear 25b of the steering gear 25 is not engaged with the lower gear 26c of the transmission gear 26, and the lower gear 25c is engaged with the operating slide 22. In this state, the transmission gear 26 is in a pause state, and the operating slide 22 slides forward or backward. This mechanism has been disclosed in JP-A-297904/1996 by the present applicant.

Fig. 6 shows the operating slide 22 as seen when viewed from the side of the large opening 27. The slide 22 is formed with a cam groove 23, and a pin 21a protruding from a free end of the movable holder 21 is fitted in the cam groove 23. Therefore, when the operating slide 22 is moved forward or backward by the rotation of the motor M4 transmitted to the slide 22 via the gear train 22, the movable support 21 pivots about the pivot shaft 28.

Referring to fig. 5, the upper side of the lifting bracket 20 is covered with a clamping plate 200, and the clamping plate 200 is provided with a previously described pressing plate 210 to press the optical disc against a turntable 250 as is well known. The movable bracket 21 is rotated upward to combine the turntable 250, the optical disk D transferred to the recording-reproducing unit 2, and the pressing plate 210, thereby rotatably holding the optical disk D. As shown in fig. 7, the clamp plate 200 avoids the screws 61, 61 and the guide bar 63, and does not interfere with the lifting bracket 20 when the lifting bracket 20 moves up and down.Platform lifting unit

Fig. 8 is a side view of the layered stacking cabinet member 70 on the left side when viewed from the inside, fig. 9 is a plan view of the base 1 after the layered stacking cabinet 7 is removed, and fig. 10 is a side view of the base 1 when viewed from the direction of arrow C in fig. 9.

Mounted on base 1 below left stackable cabinet member 70 are motor M2 and gear train 64 coupled to motor M2. A gear 65 at the downstream end of the gear train 64 is mounted in one of the recesses 13 in the chassis 1.

Referring to fig. 9, an opening 15 is formed at a position of the base 1 corresponding to the recording-reproducing unit 2. A ring gear 60 is disposed below the opening 15 and attached to the back surface of the base 1. The ring gear 60 is disposed on a bracket 66 mounted on the back of the base 1 and engages with the gear 62 on the screw 61.

The gear 65 of the gear train 4 meshes with the ring gear 60, and transmits the torque of the motor M2 to the gear 60. When driven, the motor M2 rotates the ring gear 60 and the three screws 61, 61 through the gear train 64. The rotation of the screw 61 causes the lifting bracket 20 guided by the guide rod 63 to raise or lower the recording-reproducing unit 2. Thus, the unit 2 is made to correspond to the disc tray 4 carrying the disc required for recording or reproducing data (see fig. 1 (c)).

As shown in fig. 9, the pickup 260 and the turntable 250 of the recording-reproducing unit 2 are disposed in the circular space of the ring gear 60 so as to be attached to the pickup 26 even if the unit 2 is at its lowest position0 and circuit elements exposed to the outside of the base opening 15 on the bottom surface of the turntable 250 do not come into contact with the ring gear 60, and the ring gear 60 can be smoothly operated.Detailed description of optical disk tray

Fig. 11 is a plan view of the disc tray 4, and fig. 13 is a perspective view of the disc tray 4. The sub disc tray 41 is mounted on the main disc tray 40 to be slidable back and forth. As will be described later, the main disc tray 40 accommodated in the layer stacking cabinet 7 can slide only in the ejection direction. The sub disc tray 41 is slid under the guide of a flange 45, and the flange 45 is projected inward from the side wall of the main disc tray 40 and inserted into a groove 44 formed in the corresponding side surface of the sub disc tray 41. A plate spring 46 projecting inwardly from the rear end of the main disc tray 40 is inserted into a hole 47 in the sub disc tray 41, thereby lightly engaging the sub disc tray 41 with the main disc tray 40.

A rack 42 that engages with the transmission gear 26 of the recording-reproducing unit 2 is formed on the right side portion of the sub disc tray 41. A large tooth 43 capable of being inserted into the cutout 26a of the transmission gear 26 is provided in the middle of the rack 42 (see fig. 11). During rotation of the transmission gear 26, the large tooth 43 is inserted into the cutout 26 of the transmission gear 26. Thus, even if the disc tray 4 is subjected to a large sliding load, the possibility of breakage of the rack 42 can be eliminated due to the action of the teeth at the engagement position. Referring to fig. 12, which is a plan view of the main disc tray 40, a groove 48 is formed on the bottom surface of the main disc tray 40 along its right side edge. A flange 72 (see fig. 23) located on the upper surface of a guide plate 71 to be described later is inserted into the groove 48 to guide the sliding movement of the main disc tray 40 in the ejecting direction.

As shown in fig. 13, the sub tray 41 has a large pocket portion 400 adapted to receive a large disc and a small pocket portion 410 adapted to receive a small disc, which is formed at a lower level than the large pocket portion 400. Windows 420 through which light beams from the pickup 260 can pass are formed on the large and small dimple parts 400 and 410. The main disc tray 40 has an opening 430 in overlapping relation with the window 420. On opposite sides of the opening 430, the main tray 40 has a downwardly projecting rib 49, respectively, facing the small disc on the other tray 4 which is one layer below it. When all of the disk trays 4 are loaded in the layered stacking cabinet 7, as shown in fig. 21, the convex strips 49, 49 face the outer peripheral portion of the small disk D placed on the lower disk tray 4, thereby preventing the small disk D from slipping out.

Therefore, the ribs 49, 49 prevent the small optical disk D from slipping out of the disk tray 4 in the case where a shock is applied to the apparatus. The top of the layered stacking cabinet 7 is covered with a housing (not shown) whose back face prevents the optical disk on the uppermost disk tray from slipping out.

Referring to fig. 12, the main disc tray 40 has an engaging claw 440 and a projection 450 protruding outward from its right side wall. As will be explained later, the disc trays 4 accommodated in the layered stacking cabinet 7 in the closed position are prevented from inadvertently sliding longitudinally by the claws 440. The disc tray sliding mechanism 3 is engaged in the space R between the boss 450 and the engaging claw 440.Locking of main and sub-disc trays

A locking block 460 is provided on the main disc tray 40 inside the protrusion 450. As shown in fig. 11, a locking lever 470 is provided at one end of the sub tray 41 at a position corresponding to the locking block 460. Referring to fig. 15 and 18, the locking lever 470 includes a rotatable member 480 contacting the lower surface of the sub disc tray 41 and an operating member 490 coupled to the rotatable member 480, extending through the hole 540 of the sub disc tray 41 and contacting the upper surface of the sub disc tray 41. A downward projection 480a is provided at the free end of the rotatable member 480 and is capable of engaging the locking block 460.

Fig. 16 is two plan views showing a positional relationship between the sub disc tray 41 and the main disc tray 40 when the disc tray 4 is in the closed position, in which (a) shows a relative position of the locking lever 470 and the cam portion 73 to each other, and (b) shows a relative position of the locking lever 470 and the locking block 460 to each other.

Referring to fig. 16(a), the locking lever 470 is biased counterclockwise by a torsion spring 495 provided at the rear end of the sub tray 41. A cam portion 73 is provided on an inner end surface of the guide plate 71 of the layered stacking cabinet 7. The cam portion 73 includes a first straight portion 73a extending in the sliding direction of the disc tray 4, an inclined portion 73b extending from the trailing end of the first straight portion 73a and inclined inward, and a second straight portion 73c extending from the trailing end of the inclined portion 73b in a direction parallel to the first straight portion 73 a. When the disc holder 4 is in the closed position, the operating member 490 of the locking lever 470 is away from the first straight portion 73 a.

As shown in fig. 16(b), at this time, the boss 480a of the latch lever 470 is not engaged with the latch block 460 of the main disc tray 40, so that the sub disc tray 41 can be slid away from the main disc tray 40 in the loading direction.

When the main disc tray 40 moves from the closed position to the eject position, the sub disc tray 41 also moves together with the main disc tray 40 since the sub disc tray 41 is lightly held on the main disc tray 40 by the spring 46.

Referring to fig. 17(a), the outer end of the operating member 490 comes into contact with the second straight portion 73c of the cam portion 73 to rotate the locking lever 470 clockwise against the urging force of the torsion spring 495. As shown in fig. 17(b), the boss 480a of the latch lever 470 comes into contact with the latch block 460. When the main tray 40 further slides backward, the locking block 460 pushes the locking lever 470, so that the sub tray 41 also moves backward. Then, the main disc tray 40 and the sub disc tray 41 move backward together.

When the tray 4 is in the eject position, the sub tray 41 alone cannot slide forward or backward. In the closed position, the sub disc tray 41 can move away from the main disc tray 40 toward the recording-reproducing unit 2.

The sub disc tray 41 and the main disc tray 40 are both made of synthetic resin. Experience has shown that the intermediate portions of the sub disc tray 41 and the main disc tray 40 are liable to sag and swell downward after molding. If the sag is severe, and particularly if the sub disc tray 41 comes into contact with the main disc tray 40, the sub disc tray 41 may not be able to smoothly slide on the main disc tray 40. Referring to FIG. 14, FIG. 14 shows a sub-section taken along line A-A of FIG. 13The disc tray 41 is formed with a tapered surface 520 inclined inward and upward at the center of the sub disc tray 41 to prevent the sub disc tray 41 from contacting the upper surface of the main disc tray 40.Preventing 8-cm optical disc from slipping

Fig. 19 is a sectional view taken along line B-B of fig. 13 and shows the sub disc tray 41. The slip-off preventing piece 500 integrated with the sub disc tray 41 is formed at the front of the window 420 so as to overlap the front end of the large recess portion 400, providing a space slightly larger than the thickness of the disc between the slip-off preventing piece 500 and the large recess portion 400. A downwardly protruding contact wall 510 is disposed at the front of the slip prevention sheet 500.

When a small optical disk is placed on the small seat portion 410 of the disk tray 4, as previously noted, the small optical disk is prevented from slipping off by the convex strips 49, 49 on the back surface of the main disk tray 40 on the upper layer (see fig. 21). However, if the main body of the apparatus is obliquely installed, the optical disk is likely to slip out of the small recessed portion 410 through the gap between the upper surface of the disk tray 4 and the convex rib 49 and fall toward the recording-reproducing unit 2.

The disc holder 4 of the present embodiment has the slip-off preventing piece 500 and the contact wall 510, and therefore, as shown in fig. 19, in the case where the small disc D slips off toward the recording-reproducing unit 2, the outer peripheral portion of the disc D is located directly below the preventing piece 500 and is blocked by the contact wall 510, thereby preventing the small disc D from slipping off from the sub disc holder 4 toward the recording-reproducing unit 2.

Incidentally, the slip-off preventing piece 500 and the contact wall 510 are also effective for preventing a large optical disc from slipping off toward the recording-reproducing unit 2. Further, a large disc can be prevented from sliding down toward the recording-reproducing unit 2 by the inner guide plate 71 (shown in fig. 3) having a large width and overlapping the large recessed portion 400 of the disc tray 4 and the recording-reproducing unit 2 because the unit 2 is located opposite to the disc tray 4 carrying the disc when the disc is to be ejected.Fixing the CD holder in the layered stacking cabinet

Fig. 20(a) and (b) are plan views of the right front end portion of the disc tray 4. When the disc tray 4 is in the closed position, the front end of the rack 42 on the sub disc tray 41 is in contact with the notch portion 26a of the transmission gear 26 of the recording-reproducing unit 2. The sub tray 41 at the closed position is slidingly moved toward the unit 2 by the clockwise rotation of the driving gear 26.

Unless the disk tray 4 is fixed in the layered stacking cabinet 7 in the closed position, there is a possibility that the disk tray 4 may slide out if the apparatus main body is installed obliquely. Therefore, a fixing mechanism to be described later is provided to prevent the disk tray 4 from slipping out toward the eject position when in the closed position.

Fig. 23 is a perspective view of the layered stacking cabinet member 70 on the right side when viewed obliquely from the front, and fig. 26 is a side view of the layered stacking cabinet member when viewed from the inside. As has been described, the layered stacking cabinet member 70 is provided with a plurality of guides 71 layered one above the other, each guide 71 having a rib 72 inserted into the groove 48 of the main disc tray 40. Fig. 23 shows only the ribs 72 of the first layer.

At the front of the guide plate 71 is provided a vertical plate 74 integral with the layered stacked bin member 70. The vertical plate 74 is formed with slits 75 corresponding to the guide plate 71 and equal in number to the number of the disk trays 4. The aforementioned sensor SE1 provided on the recording-reproducing unit 2 is movably fitted to the vertical plate 74 upward or downward. As the unit 2 moves up and down, the sensor 1 detects the specific gap 75 and determines the layer on which the unit 2 is located. This enables the unit 2 to be stopped accurately at the designated level.

When at the lowermost layer, the recording-reproducing unit 2 touches a full-down detection switch SW3 provided on the side panel 10. The switch SW3 is included in the motor unit 9 described above (see fig. 2).

Referring to fig. 23, a groove 78 is formed between the vertical plate 74 and the guide plate 71, and a vertical rod 79 is disposed in the groove 78. The pawls 8 are suitably mounted on the rod 79 at the same pitch as the disc trays 4. An elongated hole 76 extending in the sliding direction of the disc tray is formed between each pair of vertically adjacent guide plates. The pawl 8 has a free end which extends inwardly into the elongate aperture 76.

Referring to fig. 20(a), pawl 8 is biased clockwise by torsion spring 80 with its free end engaged with pawl 440. In the figure, the guide plate 71 is indicated by a chain line. In this state, the main disc tray 40 is prevented from sliding forward or backward. As described above, since the sub disc tray 41 is not constrained by the main disc tray 40 in the closed position, when the transmission gear 26 rotates, it slidingly advances only the sub disc tray 41 toward the recording-reproducing unit 2.

When the pawl 8 rotates counterclockwise against the urging force of the torsion spring 80, as shown in fig. 20(b), the free end of the pawl 8 is disengaged from the claw 440, and the main disc tray 40 can slide toward the eject position together with the sub disc tray 41 as described above. The pawl 8 is rotated counterclockwise by a coupling unit 5, which will be described later, and the coupling unit 5 is used to couple the disc tray sliding mechanism 3 to the disc tray.Optical disk tray sliding mechanism and coupling unit

The tray slide mechanism 3 is coupled to the tray 4 by a coupling unit 5. The disc tray sliding mechanism 3 will be described first.

Fig. 24 is a sectional view of the right side panel 10 when viewed from the ejection position, and fig. 25 is a perspective view of the side panel 10 seen from the inside and the front. The disc tray sliding mechanism 3 has an opening-closing slider 30, and one end of the opening-closing slider 30 extends through the side plate 10 and has a slidable bracket 35 attached thereto. The bracket 35 is made by bending a metal plate and has an open end facing downward and a wall formed with a vertical hole 36 facing the side wall of the layered stacking cabinet 7.

A slide 37 is inserted into the vertical hole 36 to be movable up and down. The slider 37 comprises two blocks, respectively on opposite sides of the hole 36 and joined together, namely a disc holder coupling block 38 adjacent to the tiered stacking cabinet 7 and a mating block 39 adjacent to the side panel 10. When the opening-closing slide device 30 moves forward or backward, the slidable holder 35 and the slider 37 also move forward or backward.

As described above, the slide device 30 is slid back and forth by the motor unit 9. Fig. 29(a) and (b) are side views of the open-close slide device 30 as seen from the outside, in which (a) shows the closed position and (b) shows the pop-up position. The motor unit 9 includes a mounting plate 90 on which the motor M1 and a gear train 92 coupled to the motor M1 by a belt 91 are mounted to the mounting plate 90. Also mounted on the mounting plate 90 are a closed position detecting switch SW2 corresponding to the end of the moving path of the slide 30, an eject position detecting switch SW1 and the aforementioned switch SW3 for detecting the complete lowering of the unit 2.

The opening-closing slide 30 has a bottom side with a rack 32, and a locking gear 31 rotatably mounted at its rear end portion, the toothed surface of the locking gear 31 being able to be positioned in line with the rack 32. The locking gear 31 is biased clockwise by a torsion spring (not shown). In the eject position of fig. 29(b), the gear 31 presses against a stop 33 extending from the slide 30.

In the eject position shown in fig. 29(b), the slide device 30 is in pressure contact with the switch SW1, indicating that the eject position has been reached. When energized in this state, the motor M1 moves the slide 30 forward via the gear train 92. When the gear 93 at the downstream end of the gear train 92 comes into engagement with the lock gear 31, the lock gear 31 rotates counterclockwise as shown in fig. 30(a), disengaging from the stopper 33.

Fig. 30(a) and (b) are enlarged views of the lock gear 31 and its surroundings. As shown by the dotted lines in these figures (a) and (b), the side plate 10 has an engaging member 12 projecting outwardly therefrom, and the locking gear 31 has a boss 34 projecting inwardly therefrom. The counterclockwise rotation of gear 31 brings boss 34 into contact with engaging member 12, thereby preventing slide 30 from backing up. The slide 30 presses the closed position detection switch SW2, and the slide stops. In this state, the slide device 30 is in the closed position.

Fig. 27 is a plan view showing a positional relationship between the guide plate 71 and the slider 37 of the layer-stacking cabinet 7 in the closed position. Fig. 20(a) shows the relative positions of the slider 37 and the projection 450 to each other. The guide plate 71 has a cutout 77 for allowing the slide 37 to move up or down therein. In the closed position, the slider 37 moves up or down along the vertical hole 36 (see fig. 26). The slider 37 is inserted into the space R between the boss 450 and the engaging pawl 440. When the slidable holder 35 slides to the eject position together with the slider 30, the disc tray 4 is also moved to the eject position by being pushed by the slider 37 (see fig. 31 (b)).

The coupling unit 5 functions to move the slider 37 upward or downward, to fix the slider thus moved, and to engage the slider 37 with the tray 4. The present unit will be described in more detail below.

Fig. 22 is a plan view showing the relative positions of the coupling unit 5 and the base 1. The motor M3 mounted on the base 1 is operatively associated with the coupling unit 5 through a gear train 85. A gear 86 arranged at the downstream end of the gear train 85 is located below the tiered stacking cabinet 7 (see fig. 26) and has a hole 87 near its outer periphery. A sensor SE2 is mounted on the base 1 for detecting the hole 87. When the sensor SE2 detects the hole 87 once and then detects the hole 87 again, it indicates that the gear 86 has rotated one revolution. One revolution of gear 86 corresponds to the distance that lifting member 54 and slide 37 move one tier of guide plate 71 up or down.

Referring to fig. 25, the coupling unit 5 has a support bracket 50 disposed inside the slidable bracket 35. As shown in fig. 24, the support bracket 50 is fixed to the base 1. The support bracket 50 is provided with a vertical screw 51 and a guide rod 52 arranged in parallel. A gear 53 of synthetic resin is fitted around the screw 51 and engages with a gear 86 on the base.

A lifting member 54 made of synthetic resin is mounted on the screw 51 and the guide 52. Rotation of the motor M3 is transmitted to the screw 51 through the gear train 85, causing the screw 51 to rotate, which in turn causes the lifting member 54 to move up or down along the guide rod 52.

Fig. 28 is a front view of the support bracket 50.

An unlocking piece 55 is provided at the front end of the lifting member 54, and a guide groove 56 for receiving the engagement piece 39 of the sliding member 37 is formed inside the unlocking piece 55. The front end of the unlocking member 55 has a vertical surface 57a adapted to contact the pawl 8 and tapered surfaces 57b, the tapered surfaces 57b extending obliquely from upper and lower ends of the vertical surface 57a, respectively. The center of the vertical surface 57a with respect to its height direction and the center of the guide groove 56 with respect to its height direction are in the same horizontal plane.

As shown in fig. 28, when the opening-closing slide device 30 and the slidable bracket 35 reach the closed position, that is, the foremost position, the engagement piece 39 of the slide member 37 is inserted into the guide groove 56. The slider 37 can move vertically in the closed position without being hindered by the guide plate 71 (see fig. 27), and therefore, when the screw 51 rotates, the lifting member 54 is moved upward or downward together with the slider 37.

As will be described later, the tapered surface 57b and the vertical surface 57a of the lifting member 54 come into contact with the pawl 8, disengaging the pawl 8 from the main disc tray 40.

When the tapered surface 57b of the lifting member 54 comes into contact with the pawl 8, since the upward or downward movement of the pawl 8 is restricted, the pawl 8 rotates against the urging force of the torsion spring 80, and starts to disengage from the pawl 440 as shown in fig. 20 (b). When the vertical surface 57a of the lifting member 54 comes into contact with the free end of the pawl 8, the pawl 8 is completely disengaged, so that the disk tray 4 can be slid toward the eject position.

As previously described, as seen in fig. 26, when the pawls 8 are at the same height as the corresponding elongated holes 76, the center of the vertical surface 57a of the lift member 54 and the center of the guide groove 56 are in the same horizontal plane. Thus, with the pawls 8 completely disengaged, the disc tray coupling blocks 38 of the slider 37 enter the holes 76.

Fig. 31(a) and 31(b) show the positional relationship among the lifting member 54, the disc tray 4, and the slider 37 in the closed position and the eject position, respectively. As shown in fig. 31(a), the tray coupling blocks 38 are inserted into the corresponding tray 4. By the action of the engagement piece 39 engaging with the guide groove 56 of the lifting member 54, there is no possibility that the slide member 37 may fall off.

The movement of the opening-closing slide device 30 from the closed position to the eject direction also moves the associated slidable bracket 35, and therefore, the slider 37 arranged in such a manner as to be inserted into the cutout 77 of the guide plate 71 is slidably moved rearward, allowing the disc tray coupling block 38 to slide on the guide plate 71. The slider 37 moves out of the guide groove 56 of the lifting member 54, and slides and moves the disk tray 4 in the eject direction as shown in fig. 31 (b).

Fig. 36 is a perspective view of the device body 100 in a unitary form. The main body 100 has a processor 800 connected thereto, and a specific operation program is stored in the processor 800. The motors M1 to M4, sensors SE1, SE2 and switches SW1, SW2, SW3 are all connected to the processor 800, which processor 800 in turn controls the operation of the device.Loading operation of optical disc

First, an operation button (not shown) on the apparatus main body is pressed to eject the tray 4 from the layered stacking cabinet 7, place a disc on the tray 4 and retract the tray into the layered stacking cabinet 7 again. The motor M1 of the motor unit 9 is rotated to move the open-close slide 30 rearward from the state shown in fig. 29(b) (see fig. 29 (a)). The disk tray 4 mounted on the slider 37 is pulled in, and the slider 37 is inserted into the guide groove 56 of the lifting member 54 (as shown in fig. 31 (a)). At this time, as shown in fig. 29(a), the slide device 30 presses the closed position detection switch SW2, and the motor 1 is stopped. In the closed position after being loaded into the layered stacking cabinet 7, the claws 8 are inserted into the disk tray 4 as shown in fig. 20 (a).Recording-reproducing process

As shown by the chain line in fig. 35, the recording-reproducing unit 2 is initially in a standby state at the lowermost layer, and the full-down detection switch SW3 is pressed.

The serial number of the disc tray 4 for recording or reproducing data is inputted to the device, and then the processor 800 activates the motor M2 shown in fig. 9 to rotate the ring gear 60. The gear 60 rotates the three screws 61, and 61 to raise the recording-reproducing unit 2. As shown in fig. 23, the sensor SE1 on the unit 2 counts the number of passed slits 75, and the processor 800 turns off the motor M2 when detecting that the unit 2 is at a position facing the specified tray 4.

In this state, as shown in fig. 32, the transmission gear 26 is at a position close to the front end of the sub disc tray 41. The processor 800 activates the motor M4 to rotate the drive gear 26 clockwise through the gear train 24 as shown in fig. 33 (a). In the closed position, the sub disc tray 41 is not engaged with the main disc tray 40, and the main disc tray 40 is held by the claws 8 as described above, so that only the sub disc tray 41 is slidably moved toward the unit 2 alone.

With the movement of the sub tray 41, the large teeth 43 of the rack 42 are inserted into the notches 26a of the pinion 26 as shown in fig. 33 (b). In this engagement position, even if the sliding load of the sub disc tray 41 is large, there is no possibility that the rack 42 is broken.

Fig. 34 is a plan view of the sub disc tray 41 pushed to the bottom. The sub tray 41 is positioned above the lifting bracket 20, and the turntable 250 is exposed through the window 420 of the sub tray 41. The transmission gear 26 and the operating gear 25, which provide the geneva motion, are brought into a state of being not meshed with each other (see fig. 41(a) and (b)). When the motor M4 mounted on the lifting bracket 20 is further rotated, the operating gear 25 is engaged with the operating slide 22 to slidably move the slide 22. The movable support 21 is pivotally moved about the pivot shaft 28 to match the chucking plate 210 as shown in fig. 5, to prepare the optical disk for recording or reproduction. The turntable 250 rotates and the pickup 260 projects a light beam to the back surface of the optical disc for recording or reproduction.Disc tray ejecting motion

In the closed position, as shown in fig. 28, the slider 37 inserted into the guide groove 56 of the lifting member 54 can move upward or downward with the member 54.

When a specific disc tray 4 in the layered stacking cabinet 7 is to be ejected, the processor 800 activates the motor M3 (see fig. 22) to rotate the screw 51 and move the lifting member 54 upward or downward in the support bracket 50. The sensor 2 shown in fig. 22 counts the number of times the hole 87 in the gear 86 has been rotated. When it is detected that the positions of the lifting member 54 and the slider 37 have been opposed to the disk tray 4 to be ejected, the motor 3 is turned off.

In this position, as described above and shown in fig. 20(b), the main disc tray 40 is released from the claw 8 by the lock release member 55 and can slide toward the eject position together with the sub disc tray 41. In this state, the processor 800 starts the motor M1.

The opening-closing slide device 30 is moved backward from the position shown in fig. 31 (a). The slider 37 coupled to the slider 30 by means of the slidable bracket 35 is matched to the main disc tray 40 and moved to the eject position. Engagement of the main disc tray 40 with the lock lever 470 by means of the lock block 460 (see fig. 17(a) and (b))]And moves together with the sub tray 41. When the slide device 30 is pressed against the eject position detection switch SW1, the processor 800 turns off the motor M1.Prevent the auxiliary CD holder from falling off

With the apparatus of the present invention, when the disc tray 4 is ejected in accordance with the above-described procedure, the motor M2 is first activated, the recording-reproducing unit 2 is moved to a position one layer lower than the disc tray 4 to be ejected, and the chucking plate 200 is positioned on the unit 2 in an opposing relationship to the front side of the disc tray 4 to be ejected (see fig. 35). The layer stacking cabinet 7 is disposed at a position at a distance above the base 1, and therefore, when the disk tray 4 at the lowermost layer is ejected, the unit 2 is placed at a position corresponding to the distance and the full-down detection switch SW3 is pressed. In fig. 35, the disc tray 4 to be ejected is on the second layer from the top. The reason why the unit 2 is placed in the above-described position will be described below.

When the disc tray 4 is to be ejected, the main disc tray 4 is disengaged from the claw 8, and as a result, the main disc tray 40 and the sub disc tray 41 are allowed to slide toward the recording-reproducing unit 2. The main disc tray 40 is prevented from moving forward by the engagement of the engaging claws with the end edges of the elongated hole portions 76 of the layered stacking cabinet member 70, and the sub disc tray 41 slides forward as it is. Therefore, if the apparatus main body is installed obliquely, the sub disc tray 41 is moved out of engagement with the main disc tray 40 by a small amount, and moreover, the sub disc tray 41 to be ejected from the closed position may slip down onto the unit 2. With the apparatus of the present invention, the clamp plate 200 is positioned opposite to the front side of the optical disc tray 4 to be ejected, eliminating the possibility that the sub optical disc tray 41 falls toward the unit 2.

Fig. 42 shows a sequence of steps concerning the ejection of the disc tray 4.

As an alternative, when the disc tray 4 is to be ejected, the path of movement of the disc tray 4 toward the recording-reproducing unit 2 may also be blocked by using a lifting bracket 20 for the recording-reproducing unit 2, which is increased in thickness, and moving the recording-reproducing unit 2 to a position one layer higher than the disc tray 4 to be ejected. Thus, the unit 2 prevents the disc tray 4 from falling to the unit 2.

According to the foregoing embodiment, when the lifting member 54 is completely lowered, as shown in fig. 37, the bottom surface of the lifting member 54 is supported on the upper surface of the gear 53. If the screw 51 is kept rotated and the lifting member 54 is continuously pressed against the gear 53 in such a contact state, the lifting member 54 and the gear 53, both of which are made of synthetic resin, are likely to be pressed into each other. When the lifting member 54 in such a press-fit state is lifted again thereafter, the resistance involved in the press-fit state is large, and it becomes difficult to lift the member 54.

Thus, the applicant has conceived the idea that, referring to fig. 38(a), there are formed a contact member 600 protruding from the upper surface of the gear 53 and fitted with the screw groove of the screw 51, and a contact member 610 protruding from the lower surface of the lifting member 54 and fitted with the screw groove of the screw 51 so as to be in contact with one side surface of the contact member 600. When the lifting member 54 is completely lowered, the contact 610 of the lifting member 54 and the contact 600 of the gear 53 contact each other with their facing sides. Since the contact surface between the members 610 and 600 can be made smaller than when the bottom surface of the lifting member 54 is in bearing contact with the upper surface of the gear 53, there is no possibility of press-in, so that the lifting member 54 can be smoothly lifted from the fully lowered position.

A similar arrangement may also be provided at the upper end of the screw 61. Further, the recording-reproducing unit 2 and the screw 51 for moving the unit 2 upward or downward may be provided with similar means.

As shown in fig. 39, when the disk tray 4 in the eject position is pushed in by a hand, the on-off slide 30 moves out of contact with the eject position detection switch SW 1. Thus, there is a possibility that the switch SW1 will be turned off although the processor 800 does not give a command signal to start the motor M1. At this time, the motor M1 may be automatically started to pull in the disk tray 4. In this case, the end face of the tray to be pushed may be marked with a pushing action as indicated by the term "push" in broken lines (see fig. 13) to indicate that the tray 4 can be manually pushed in.

Claims (3)

1. An optical disk recording-reproducing apparatus having mounted on a base (1) thereof a layered stack cabinet (7) and a recording-reproducing unit (2), the layered stack cabinet (7) accommodating therein optical disk trays (4) arranged in a plurality of layers so as to place an optical disk on each of the optical disk trays, the recording-reproducing unit (2) being disposed at a front portion of the layered stack cabinet (7) for recording data onto the optical disk held between the recording-reproducing unit (2) and a holding plate (200) disposed above the unit (2) or reproducing data recorded on the optical disk, the apparatus being characterized in that:

the recording-reproducing unit (2) can move up and down above the base (1), the holding plate (200) can pivot toward the recording-reproducing unit (2),

the base (1) is provided with a deck-raising unit (6) for moving the recording-reproducing unit (2) up and down, and a raising control means disposed between the base (1) and the recording-reproducing unit (2) for operating the deck-raising unit (6) to bring the recording-reproducing unit (2) to a desired height,

when the disk tray (4) is to be ejected from the layered stacking cabinet (7), the lift control means can position the recording-reproducing unit (2) at a height at which the recording-reproducing unit (2) is opposed to the disk tray (4) to be ejected, so as to block the path of movement of the disk tray (4) toward the unit (2).

2. The optical disk recording-reproducing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein slits (75) corresponding to the mounting positions of the respective optical disk trays (4) are formed in the layered stacking cabinet (7), and a sensor SE1 capable of being positioned opposite to the slits (75) to detect the height of the unit (2) is provided on the recording-reproducing unit (2).

3. The optical disc recording-reproducing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the deck-raising unit (6) includes a plurality of screws (61) vertically disposed on the base (1) and threadedly engaged with the recording-reproducing unit (2), and a ring gear (60) mounted on the base (1) to rotate the screws (61), the recording-reproducing unit (2) including those recording-reproducing members disposed in an inner space of the ring gear (60).